Horizon Wireless; or ACNH Pandemic Story #572
Unite and Question
Animal Crossing: New Horizons was the talk of the town when it released, especially because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A family-friendly source of escapism was just the thing most people needed to get their minds off the pandemic. Now, rather than fiddle with Zoom or other video calling services, newly-minted gamers could use the internet to visit each other’s own islands. The fact that there wasn’t face-to-face calling didn’t matter; Animal Crossing provided a more personalized and intimate connection for people separated by the pandemic.
I myself fell victim to the Crossing craze right when the game came out. Or rather, I debated over getting it for about a week, then shamelessly “time travelled” so none of my friends would be any the wiser. And quite honestly, though I don’t play it as often as I used to (thanks mostly in part to other Switch games), I can totally see the appeal.
I’m a bit of a gaming buff, having been a Nintendo fan since I was five or six, and New Horizons is a pretty worthy sequel to its predecessors. The last time I took a foray into the series was with the 3DS’s entry, New Leaf. That game is phenomenal and still holds up strong today, even in the face of New Horizons. (Guess they got a bit lazy on the name, though…) In fact, at Horizons’ release, there were quite a few features missing from New Leaf, such as the Roost coffee shop, diving, and many of the holiday events. So why would a game that is missing a good deal of content from its formers still be able to enrapture so many people worldwide?
The answer’s probably pretty obvious: the game’s fun. Despite missing a good deal of content from its formers, New Horizons is still one heck of a game. Newly added features like terraforming, an expanded custom design system, and crafting all add a fresh flair to this iteration of Animal Crossing. And the aforementioned online features allow you to share the fun with people far and wide. Not to mention, the core gameplay loop hasn’t changed a bit; do whatever you like, be it developing your town (in this case, island), fishing and bug-catching, clothes-shopping, you name it. There’s a bit of something for everyone in New Horizons, myself included. It’s no wonder that it became the phenomenon it did.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/17/learning/how-animal-crossing-will-save-gen-z.html